Methods of research of radiothermal radiation of cryospheric objects in the microwave range

Abstract

Many cryospheric formations on Earth have an inaccessible location. For example, when studying ice sheets located on the water surface, at the initial moment of ice formation, it becomes difficult to take samples. Remote monitoring methods in the microwave range can be used to study such objects. For example, install a microwave radiometer on an unmanned aerial vehicle and use its own thermal radiation from a cryogenic object to record various kinds of features. For radiometric measurements using microwave radiometers, it is necessary to calibrate the measuring device. In this paper, the radiometer calibration method is considered. For these purposes, two objects with known radiative characteristics were measured. The first is fresh open water with a known surface area and thermodynamic temperature against the background of a frozen cloudless atmosphere. The second is a section of the sky reflected from a metal sheet, with the same area. As an example, radiometric measurements of the ice cover of the Ingoda River, located in the Transbaikal Territory (Russia) at a frequency of 34 GHz, were performed. This measurement technique will be useful to specialists in the field of environmental monitoring of cryospheric formations by microwave remote methods in winter.